Demonstration of Disaster-proof Warehouse and Smart
Office Applications Using the Multiple Simultaneous
Connectivity of 5G
Kentaro Ishizu, Homare Murakami, Hirokazu Sawada, Kazuo Ibuka,Takashi Matsuda, Fumihide Kojima

Wireless Networks Research Center,
National Institute of Information and Communications Technology

1. Introduction
One of the advantages of the 5th generation (5G) mobile
communication system is the ability to achieve a significantly
larger number of simultaneous connections. In the IoT (Internetof Things) era, the number of mobile connected things will
increase and all sorts of things will be connected to the Internet.
Mobile communication systems will therefore have to provide asocial infrastructure that achieves larger numbers of simultaneousconnections.
It is expected that the simultaneous connection capabilities of5G will allow it to accommodate a million terminals per square
kilometer[1]. This goal needs to be evaluated together with realistic
assumed applications in order to clarify the usage scenarios thatcan be implemented with 5G. Therefore, in this article we reporton the results of demonstrations based on two different use
cases: the use of 5G in disaster-proof warehouses during disastersituations, and the use of 5G in smart offices to support future
working styles [2].

2. Disaster-proof warehouse use caseIn a disaster, it is important to manage very large numbers ofresources and ascertain the circumstances of many people. The
purpose of a disaster-proof warehouse is to stockpile reserves innormal situations so they can be used or consumed in the eventof an emergency. However, considering the circumstances that
arose during disasters in recent years, it can be seen that it was notpossible to accurately ascertain the positions of warehouses with asurplus of goods and warehouses where problems had arisen due to■ Figure 1: Demonstration of a disaster-proof warehouse use case18New Breeze Autumn 2018

■ Figure 2: Demonstration of a smart office use caseshortages. In addition, it may be unrealistic to expect that accurate
warehouse records will continue to be kept when accepting anddispensing aid during an emergency. Efforts are therefore being
made to implement a system whereby goods are labeled with RFtags that can be scanned to generate information that is sent via
5G to a city hall or the like, where it can be centrally analyzed
to identify shortages and ensure that aid supplies are directed
to where they are most needed. Furthermore, wearable devices
that can measure the wearer’s position and vital signs would be
provided to people who need particular care, such as children,
the elderly and infirm. This information can be collected via 5G
and used to request the assistance of doctors or volunteers whenabnormal values are detected (Figure 1).
The wireless communication needed to implement this system
is realized using a Grant-Free system that is being studied for5G [3,4]. In conventional communication systems like LTE, acommunication channel must be established before any data
communication starts. This process places a heavy load on thecommunication system, and gives rise to limitations on thenumber of terminals that can be connected. However, in the
Grant-Free system, data can be transmitted straight away without
having to set up a communication channel. This system is suitable
for situations where small quantities of data such as sensor outputs
are sporadically transmitted from large numbers of terminals.
For this demonstration, we developed a prototype device that
implements this method. We also developed a test device
capable of simulating 20,000 terminals and generating wirelesscommunication connections in the same way. By combining thesedevices, we constructed a demonstration environment where up
to 20,000 terminals are transmitting signals in the Grant-Freesystem while transmitting information from wearable devices to abase station.
For this demonstration, we used a wireless system with abandwidth of 10 MHz, with each terminal transmitting
information at five second intervals. The base station regards
a terminal as having communicated successfully if it receives
information within ten seconds. The results of this test confirmedthat the 5G system is capable of receiving data from all 20,000terminals in 70 seconds when the terminals are set up to transmit
data every 5 seconds. We also confirmed that in an environment
with 20,000 wireless terminals, it is still possible for the server
management screen to produce a graphical display of stock tag
information and pulse information from wearable terminals.

3. Smart office use caseIn the future it is expected f lexible work patterns will
become more commonplace, increasing the demand for officeenvironments that are customized to individual needs. People
also expect to have greater opportunities to work efficiently inremote businesses anywhere using a nearby shared office. We will
therefore implement smart office environments by developing
office tools that combine not only the multiple simultaneousconnection capabilities of 5G, but also other desirable performance
attributes such as ultra-high speed and ultra-low latency(Figure 2).
As examples of tools, the smart table incorporates a planar

New Breeze Autumn 201819

antenna in the desktop for near-field communication, and isconnected to a base station operating in the 3.7 GHz band.
For this demonstration, we used an LTE base station with abandwidth of 20 MHz, and we aimed to conduct an evaluationin terms of the system configuration and radio wave interference.
This planar antenna only allows terminals to communicate when
they are on the desk, and suppresses radio wave interference tothe space further away from the desktop surface. Therefore, even
if there are several smart tables installed in the same conference
room, they can use radio waves of the same frequency bandwithout causing interference between desks. This facilitateseffective use of frequency resources, and makes it possible toachieve a large overall network communication capacity. Video
from an omnidirectional camera and audio from a microphonecapable of estimating direction of audio sources are communicatedby smart tables to a server, which automatically creates the minutesof the meeting by recognizing what is being said and by who.
In addition, when the system estimates that the discussion has
stalled (e.g., at a break in the conversation), the system searches for
current news relating to keywords extracted from the most recent
spoken content, and displays it on a large-sized wall-mounted
display to contribute ideas for brainstorming.
The smart chair has six pressure sensors on the seat andback panel. Information from these sensors is transmitted to theserver via multiple simultaneous connections so that the postureof the person sitting on the chair can be identified (e.g., leaning
forward, leaning back, or shifted to one side). In the future, bygathering information from every chair in the room, the system
could recommend breaks or control the air conditioning to prevent
fatigue and drowsiness among the conference participants. In thisdemonstration, these chair pressure sensors are powered entirelyby photovoltaic panels installed on the rear side, so there is no needto replace batteries. Other forms of chair sensor that are being
developed can detect a person’s heart rate and/or breathing whena person simply sits down, and in the future this can be expected
to be used for health management and fine-grained control of theoffice environment. Since the 5G wireless system for chairs is stillon the drawing board, we used existing Bluetooth Low Energy
equipment for connections of wireless sensors.
The electronic whiteboard uses ultra-low latenc ycommunication in the 28 GHz band to provide a real-time displaythat updates in synchronization with other whiteboards at remotelocations. Most current videoconferencing systems share only
video and audio signals, but by also sharing the pen strokes
drawn on a whiteboard in real time, it is possible to share thesame whiteboard between multiple conference rooms, resulting
in greater work efficiency and smoother discussions. Here, thewriting on the electronic whiteboard from multiple locations
is managed by a 5G edge server directly connected to the basestation. This not only reduces the radio access latency, but can also
reduce the latency in higher layers.

4. Summary
We have presented the results of a demonstration to examine
the performance of 5G simultaneous multiple connections in
two usage scenarios. This demonstration confirmed that it ispossible to improve the terminal connectivity required in disaster

20New Breeze Autumn 2018

situations, and to develop a new office environment. The function
and performance of 5G are being strongly led from the viewpointof services, and we hope that the results of this verification will
be useful for future 5G applications and 3GPP standard reviews.
In addition, we are studying methods for distributed micro-cell
technologies in mobile communication systems [5], and we expect
this can be effectively applied to smart offices where there islimited communication range.
Acknowledgments
This study was commissioned by the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications as part of an initiative to investigate
the technical criteria of 5th generation mobile communication
systems where 20,000 devices at a single venue can communicate
simultaneously (FY2017). The disaster-proof warehousedemonstration was performed jointly with Softbank Corporationand Abit Corporation, and the smart office demonstration wasperformed jointly with Itoki Corporation and Sharp Corporation.
References[1] Recommendation ITU-R M.2083-0, “IMT Vision — Framework and overall objectives of thefuture development of IMT for 2020 and beyond,” Sep. 2015.
[2] N ICT press release, “Simultaneous connection of 20,000 terminals confirmed in 5G
verification test — Demonstration of effectiveness in disaster-proof warehouse and smart
office use cases”, March 2018. http://www.nict.go.jp/press/2018/03/29-1.html.
[3] 3GPP R1-166403,”Grant-free Multiple Access Schemes for mMTC”.
[4] 3GPP R1-1609398,”Uplink grant-free access for 5G mMTC”.
[5] Ishizu et al., “A study of base station sharing methods for 5th generation mobilecommunication systems”, IEICE Technical Reports, Vol. 117, no. 246, RCS2017-182, pp.
81–86, October 2017.

Cover ArtOnoe Kikugoro(Picture of kabuki actorOnoe Kikugoro III.
It is said that heis playing the role ofUshiwakamaru (1838).)

Utagawa Kunisada (1786–1865)
Collection of the Art Research Center(ARC)
Ritsumeikan University
Object number: arcUY0215